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Just the day before the Russians invaded Crimea in the Ukraine, the CIA informed Congress that the Russians would not invade.

This is not the first time that the CIA has been clueless about world events. Going back in time the CIA:

■ Had no idea that the Arab Spring was about to take place.

■ Had no knowledge that the Arab-Israeli war in 1973 was about to begin.

■ Had no information beforehand that their post in Benghazi was about to be attacked.

With regard to Benghazi, it was the CIA that held up accurate information about what occurred and created the “talking points” that Susan Rice was told to make public — all the while knowing that this was not true.

We can also look at the CIA’s treatment of prisoners, like using torture by waterboarding and lying about it. That is a serious breach of ethics that normally is not tolerated in the United States.

Now more information has come forward that the CIA has been tapping into the computers that the congressional committee cited with overview of the CIA has been using.

What is going on here? Where is the public outcry to this outrageous behavior and efforts by Congress to quickly do something about this egregious misuse of power?

Something needs to be done, whether it’s an overhaul of the CIA or a housecleaning from top to bottom.

America, we have a problem.

Terri Quint, St. Augustine

GAS TAX OPTIONS

Two possibilities

The article in Wednesday’s Times-Union mentioned that the president’s budget requests an additional $302 billion in transportation spending over four years without addressing a lack of funding to meet our current and future transportation needs.

Fuel efficiency is improving, and fuel taxes have not kept up with the funding needs.

Everyone in politics is afraid to act on this critical funding, yet the total cost of federal funding of transportation, $150 billion per year, is less than 1 percent of our gross domestic product.

State and local funding are at similar proportions.

Suddenly all taxes are bad, even when they are needed for critical government services. If only our politicians would try to educate the public about these critical needs rather than ignore new payment methods.

One method was proposed by professor Michael Webber of the University of Texas. It would charge a ton per mile fee that varies with the miles driven.

A two-ton car driven 13,500 miles would pay $756 per year. When highway/transit spending returns to a normal level of about $75 billion annually within four years, the new amount would be $378 per year.

The other possibility is a floating fuel tax that would rise with revenue needed and the amount of fuel sold.

If a floating fuel tax is used, a tax on natural gas used as a motor fuel and on mileage driven by electric vehicles is also needed.

Bruce Fouraker, Jacksonville

SAVING DUNES

Protect against storms

I want to congratulate the Times-Union for the article on dune resurgence in Shorelines.

It touched on history, science, sociology and environment.

Many users don’t appreciate their beach. Some dog owners, often young people, don’t clean up after their animals. And young men leave beer bottles behind.

Often these bottles are broken under the weight of police and trash collection vehicles.

I clean up dog poop and other trash on my walks. On a given day, I gather up about a grocery bag full; after holidays a great deal more.

My other perspective is that our dunes have clearly not been maintained well. Parts of the dune system are nonexistent. They are the same level as the top of the beach.

A dune system is only as good as its weakest link.

Also the vehicle access points are only as high as the top of the beach. These could be mounded up several feet and still not block access. Dunes have been cut open to allow storm sewer outflows. This could be improved with piping through the dunes.

Some of the dune walk-overs, wooden pedestrian ramps, are so low as to be worthless in high seas.

And it seems that lots of dune replanting is needed. This vegetation stabilizes dunes. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts could be enlisted.

According to the article, serious maintenance of our dunes is not slated until 2017.

Yet many of the steps I’ve listed could be started immediately.

What I fear is a modest storm surge of just four feet. Even two feet would make a big mess.

Any cost-benefit analysis would come out way ahead for dune upgrades as soon as possible.

Our beach and dune system should be designed to withstand at least an 8-foot surge at high tide.

Timothy Dolan Archbishop of New York City, stated on Meet the Press yesterday, that the Catholic Church tries to balance the difference between the "far left collectivism, socialism and communism, and far right unfettered cut-throat capitalism."

Why is it that clergy with post grad degrees do not know what capitalism is?

Corporatism is not capitalism! Corporatism is when government intervenes or cabals, for political reasons, with capitalism. It's when government picks winners and losers of specific corporations like Obama did recently with solar and wind companies as winners, and reduced tax credits to oil companies for research as losers.

Corporatism is when just a handful of the worlds biggest banks came together and created the global central banking cabal in 1913 or (The Federal Reserve). Since then, they have allowed our US Treasury to print as much debt as our government wants because it keeps interest payments on our debt so low, regardless the havoc it bestows upon our economy.

The robber barons of the early 1900s could not have done what they did without big banks loaning them big money with such bankers sitting on the robber barons Board of Directors.

This is not unfettered cut-throat capitalism, this is corporatism and BOTH Democrats and Republicans do this because apparently their voters support this partisan behavior. Why else would they elect such useless and self serving politicians?

"Fuel efficiency is improving, and fuel taxes have not kept up with the funding needs."

I call B.S. on that. Every year there are more cars and more drivers buying gas and paying the taxes. We are giving them the money, they just need to learn how to spend it. Politicians do NOT have unrestricted access to our wallets.

Its NONE of the governments business how many miles I drive in a year! Its none of their business where I go or what I do with my life or my vehicles.

Ultimately the problem with the transportation departments on every level of government is the constant growth of the ever growing monster with new buildings and more and more personnel along with benefits, pensions, pay raises and bonuses while providing less and less for the paying public!